A Breather for Tio
by Mark629
Summary: Hajime's previous assistance with his mother's mangaka work has led him to some revelations about Tio Klarus. Maybe she just needs to be rewarded for her reliability and the help she has given them, or maybe she is about to crack. Will he be able to come up with a solution to treat her condition before it is too late? Heavy references to "Nana to Kaoru".
1. Chapter 1 - Dreams into Action

Hajime looked up at his mother. She had that look about her again. It was that exhausted but driven and focused look she got when the deadline was near and the work still had much left to do. Sometimes, in these situations, she accepted help from her son. This was one of those times and Hajime was working diligently… but the manga he was focusing on was different from anything he had worked on before.

"Okasan, what is going on here? Maybe… this scene should be darker?" he asked.

Sumire glanced over the edge of her desk to see what her son was talking about. There shouldn't be any dark scenes in the little slice-of-life piece that she had given him to do. But the scene he was working on wasn't what she expected to see. On the short table where he had been working she saw the scene coming together that portrayed a short boy and a tall girl in a small apartment room. The girl was trussed up in ropes and had a gag in her mouth, and the boy simply stood nearby… taking in the sight of her bondage.

"Where did you get that?" Sumire asked her son.

"This is what you handed me to work on." Hajime answered honestly.

"Oh… this is my fault. I meant to give you something else." Sumire started to reach for a different folder.

"This one isn't facing a deadline?" Hajime asked.

"It is… but if the content bothers you, I could give you something else." Sumire offered.

"If the content bothers me?" Hajime was confused, "I just need to know if this scene should be darker. I mean, is he about to kill her?"

"Oh no, not at all. In fact, this is a love story." Sumire corrected her son's misunderstanding.

"A love story?" Hajime balked. He looked back at the bound girl on the half-finished manga page and wondered if his mother was looking at the same thing he was.

"This piece is is from the _Nana to Kauru_ works. It's a story about those two characters who are in love with each other, but have a different way of showing it." Sumire explained.

"A different way of showing it? You mean, torture?" Hajime asked.

"No. Let me explain the plot." Sumire took a breath and explained as simply as she could, "The girl is one of those successful types. She is active in sports, head of the student council, gets good grades… you know the type."

"Yeah?" Hajime glanced down at the page showing the sensuously bound girl and had a hard time imagining her as a student council president.

"But always performing at that level puts a lot of stress on her. She started to fall apart. Her counselor told her she needed to find a hobby and take a breather from all the pressures in her life. And, long story short, this is what helps her to find balance." Sumire waited to see if he really understood.

"But… wouldn't getting tied up by this guy just make more pressure for her?" Hajime asked.

"You would think so, but there are other factors at play. You see, they both care for each other and she trusts him implicitly… to the point that she would willingly call him her master." Sumire spread out some of the other pages that went with the work to illustrate what she was saying. "And the boy isn't just tying her up like a package. He takes special care to make sure the ropes he is using are clean and properly prepared. Without her knowing, he has taken every precaution to make sure that her little breather session won't endanger her in any way."

"I see." Hajime looked at the drawings in a different way now. He noticed that, even though the girl was immobilized with rope and gagged with a ball that kept her mouth wide open, she didn't look like she hated it. Indeed, he could now see that she was in the throes of intense pleasure. And the boy wasn't just leering at her either. Sure, there was a component of lust in his eyes, but there were also elements of worry, doubt, and caring. "So, they're perverts."

"Yes, but it's up to you to decide if that is a bad thing." Sumire sounded like she was lecturing just then.

"Huh? Perversion is perversion, isn't it?" Hajime asked.

"It is. But is it bad?" Sumire explained, "At it's core, perversion is anything that isn't _normal_. You do a lot of things that your classmates wouldn't think of as normal, right? But does that make you a bad person?"

"Like what?" Hajime asked.

"Drawing manga with your mother, your fascination with loli girls… to name a few." Sumire smiled.

"I do not have a fascination with lolis." Hajime insisted.

"You may not be honest with yourself, but don't lie to me." Sumire waggled her finger at her son, "I've seen how you follow that cute little teacher of yours with your eyes. Your father and I agree that she is right in your strike zone."

"Okasaaaaaaan!" Hajime groaned, "Enough of that, please? Just tell me how do I know if it's good perversion or bad perversion?"

"Just like anything else," his mother told him, "just ask yourself if it is hurting anyone, or if it is illegal."

"That's it?" Hajime looked back down at the picture. From what he had seen of the manga so far, both the boy and the girl were the same age, and they both looked like they were enjoying themselves. "Huh, I guess this is a good perversion then."

"Yep," Sumire turned back to the work on her desk but couldn't help teasing her son just a little bit more, "And that teacher of yours is a legal loli, so there won't be any problem with you pursuing her as soon as you graduate."

"Okasaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

.

"Hajime?" Yue called to her lover. He had been staring at the fire, but now he was just staring off into space.

"Yue?" Hajime snapped out of his memory daydream. Yue was leaning against him and looking up at him curiously. He put a hand on her head and ran his fingers through her fluffy hair.

"What were you thinking of?" Yue asked in her almost monotone.

"Tio." Hajime said simply. He gazed through the flames of the campfire at where Tio and Shea were chatting. He expected to hear some kind of response from his girlfriend but she was silent. Glancing at her he saw a very distressing expression on her face.

"I was thinking about giving her some kind of reward since she has been reliable recently, but if you don't want me to…" Hajime let his gaze wander up to the stars in the sky above.

"She has been quite reliable." Yue admitted. In fact, she had been more like the great and noble dragon folk that she had learned of in her youth… and less like the perverse harpy that she had become since meeting them. Still, Yue wasn't ready to share Hajime with anyone but Shea just yet. "What did you have in mind? Are you saying you want to take her to your bed?"

"Hell no." Hajime rejected that offer immediately. As she was now, she did nothing for him. Not like Yue, or even like Shea.

"Then what?" Yue asked.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this… You see, I think Tio is under a lot of pressure. All of her little pervert outbursts are because she is starting to crack."

"How do you know she wasn't always like this?" Yue asked.

"She is a princess like you were right?" Hajime asked.

"Yes." Yue agreed.

"Could you have remained a princess if you had a depraved personality like hers?" Hajime asked.

"Only if all the other dragon folk are like her… but I don't think they are. None of the tales of their courage and nobility ever described them that way." Yue looked over at Tio and worried about her in a way that hadn't crossed her mind before, "Do you really think she might crack?"

"I don't know." Hajime wished there had been more books about the dragon folk in the great library where he had studied when he was first summoned to this world, but it seemed that most of the references to their race had been purged.

"Is there anything you can do?" Yue believed that if Hajime wanted to, he could do anything and in her heart, she did want to save this dragon folk princess… even if she was an incorrigible pervert.

"Possibly. But, if you knew what I was thinking, it might repulse you, or make you angry with me." Hajime pulled her closer to him and gave her a squeeze to let her know that neither of those things were something he wanted to do.

"Tell me. I'll be with you no matter what you decide." Yue gave him the line that she usually said before they went into battle.

"All right. I'm going to tell you about something called _breathers_. This is something my mother taught me." Hajime said seriously.

"So, this is something you did with your mother?" Yue took additional interest in this since she knew she would meet his mother some day and wanted to make a favorable impression.

"Kak! Uh, no." Hajime said through a sudden spasm of coughing and choking. "I didn't do it with her. She taught me about it like a lecture."

"And this is something you want to do with Tio?" Yue asked. She wondered if she should be jealous that he hadn't done it with her yet.

"Whether I want to or not, I think it is something that she needs. I'm sure it is something she desperately wants." Hajime answered.

"Tell me." Yue wanted to know now, "Tell me about these _breathers_ that could help Tio."


	2. Chapter 2 - A Silky Rope

It has been pointed out to me that this story is too Mature for FFN. I do not wish to be out of compliance with FFN's rules of use. So, please look to archiveofourown for the continuation of this story.

Here is an excerpt of the Chapter 2 from what is over at AO3:

* * *

Yue listened to Hajime carefully. At first, she thought it must be some kind of elaborate joke, but he was so serious about what he was telling her that she dismissed that idea. He explained how some people actually wanted to be bound and disciplined as a form of sensual recreation. They claimed to feel an intensely euphoric release unlike anything else – either while they were bound or at the moment they were released.

...the moment they were released.

Those words had a severe impact on Yue. Several hundred years of tortuous imprisonment embedded in that cube, deep in the Orcus Labyrinth had never once been enjoyable. But the release… When Hajime was doing everything he could to set her free. Yes, that had been a most remarkable experience, indeed. I could tell from his smell that he was but a mortal human, but he looked like a god to me. When I was released, I could barely speak. Part of it was from weakness, but mostly it was from the euphoria of release. Perhaps… there is something to this after all. However, I see a flaw in his plan.

"Hajime, do you intend to tie her up?" Yue asked in her characteristic, emotionally flat tone.

"Yes, in the story they used a variety of bindings. Rope, leather, and even metal binders are used in this kind of play, but I think rope would be best." Hajime replied.

"I don't think that will work." Yue shifted her gaze across to Tio and explained, "She's too strong. I don't believe there is any rope in the world that would hold her."

"The object isn't to immobilize the submissive… but I see your point." Hajime thought about it and came up with a solution. "The rope's strength will be irrelevant if I use it as a metaphor."

"Hmm?" Yue cocked her head. She understood the words, but not the meaning behind them.

"Will you help… or would you rather that I do this alone?" Hajime asked his diminutive lover.

"Wouldn't my presence be distressing for Tio? Yue asked.

"I'm counting on that." Hajime concentrated on his ring until a glowing circle opened and revealed a coil of silky rope that looked like it had been spun by magically enhanced spiders. The rope was strong and quite valuable, but Yue was right. It wasn't nearly strong enough to restrain Tio, so it would be a shame if the dragon girl ended up breaking it.

"You're a meanie, Hajime." Yue responded.

"No I'm not. If you don't want to be there, I won't ask you to." Hajime said softly.

"I meant that you are being mean to Tio." Yue clarified what she had meant.

"Oh that." Hajime felt a bit of relief. He didn't like it when he disappointed Yue, but this was only a misunderstanding, "For a masochist like her, the fact that someone is watching her being disciplined will probably increase her enjoyment.

"… She is a pervert after all." Yue wanted to challenge what Hajime said, but she couldn't. Instead, she asked, "Is that the only reason why you want me there?"

"No. One of the things that the manga… story taught me was the importance of safety. Since she will have to voluntarily lose all control of her body, and give that responsibility to me… it would be inexcusable for me to let her get hurt at my hands." Hajime had a lot of confidence when he went into a fight against a monster… but he had done that sort of thing hundreds of times now. This would be something new and… "It would make me feel better if you were with me in case there is a problem."

"Shea and I will both be there." Yue decided. Of course, it was a promise that would be easy to keep. It would be unlikely that Shea would just wait patiently while the three of them went off to do something sensual… even if it was perverted.


	3. Chapter 3 - This Calls for More Training

It has been pointed out to me that this story is too Mature for FFN. I do not wish to be out of compliance with FFN's rules of use. So, please look to archiveofourown for the continuation of this story.

Here is an excerpt of the Chapter 3 from what is over at AO3:

* * *

"What's going on? Did Nagumo finally crack?" Amanogawa Kouki cried out as he arrived with his holy sword already drawn and pointed at Hajime. Without waiting for an answer, and assuming he was right, he shouted to everyone, "Get behind me quickly, I'll save all of you from him."

There was a moment of silence while everyone was reminded just how dense the proclaimed Hero really was. But that moment of silence was broken by the voice of the one person Hajime had been trying to let rest.

"Huh? What's going on?" Tio asked drowsily after having been awakened by Kouki's loud shouting. Leaning up on one elbow, the blanket fell away and Kouki was distracted by the dazzling sight of the voluptuous dragon woman's exposed breasts.

Hajime's one human eye radiated anger while human and metal hands clenched into fists at his sides. _He's not my enemy, but will anyone really miss him if I kill him now? Surely not. All I have to do it hit him once in the head and…_

"DADDY!" Shea faced the surrounding forest and yelled at the top of her lungs.

The rabbit girl's confusing outburst momentarily broke the blood-lust running between Kouki and Hajime.

Since they were camped in the forest between Verbergen and the Haulia Tribe's village, Shea knew that her father would be close. And if he was close…

"Boss," the brawny rabbit-man appeared in their midst as if he had always been there. He was on one knee and bowing to Hajime, "I did not wish to intrude on this gathering of your friends, but my daughter calls me."

Several people were startled at the rabbit-man's sudden appearance. More than one of them speculated that if Endou Kousuke ever teamed up with the Haulia tribe, they may very well perfect the art of invisibility. But it was the Haulia chief's misconception that got Hajime's attention, as well as grated on his nerves.

"Tch," Hajime spoke to the kneeling rabbit-man as he leveled a dismissive glare at Kouki, "you are my friend more than this rabble." A moment later, Hajime blanched internally when he realized what that careless comment might cause.

"Boss!" the elder rabbit-man looked up at Hajime with wide open eyes of affection and tears of happiness already streaking down his cheeks.

"Daddy!" Shea asserted herself to her fawning father while pointing at Kouki who was still holding his holy sword, "Hajime… The Boss was just offended by that person over there."

Kouki switched to a more defensive position. He had seen what this pale blue haired bunny girl could do, but his defenses were arranged in the wrong direction and toward the wrong target.

Without moving anything else, Cam Haulia, Dark Hunter of the Forbidden Depths and also known as the Ominous Hell Disaster… simply moved his right hand in a throwing away gesture.

There was the sound of a gasp, and of a holy sword falling to the ground. Tall grasses and bushes rustled here and there as something was rapidly dragged through the forest undergrowth.

"Boss, if you let us kill him, we have friends that can make fine leather goods out of his skin." Cam sounded both sinister and hopeful as he asked. He didn't notice, nor did he care about the horrified looks from the two girls that were slightly behind him.

"… How fine?" Hajime asked out of curiosity.

"HAJIME!" several voices clamored.


End file.
